Q and A: emergency escape vehicle, canning hamburger, cold hardy apricot tree

Emergency planning escape vehicle

Great ideas in Issue #157, January/February 2016 Emergency planning beyond the bug-out bag. Got me wondering what would make the best “escape” vehicle. I am thinking a diesel. Gasoline would start to deteriorate in a year. Storing a large amount would be dangerous. You could store a large amount of diesel and be good to go. Newer diesel trucks use electronic fuel injection and if there was an EMP you would be dead on the road. Older Dodge Rams had mechanical fuel injection that did not need electronics from the truck. Prices on these trucks are somewhat reasonable although a lot of people are realizing the worth of these engines. High mileage shouldn’t be a problem if they were well serviced. Do have any thoughts on alternative escape vehicles?

Duncan Murrow
Valdese, North Carolina

Good points for using an older Diesel vehicle, but I feel that depending on where you are planning on going with your vehicle, about any vehicle that has a large fuel tank and gets reasonable mileage will do the trick. Having an older vehicle without the electronic controls would also be a factor, should an EMP happen. I think keeping the vehicle trustworthy, the fuel tank full, and a few cans of fuel around is the most important factor: preparedness, again. With gas, just use the “stored” gas within a month and keep rotating it through the vehicle or other gasoline equipment so that the “stored” gas is always fresh. That’s much better than using additives. We like a pickup for an escape vehicle as you can also use it to pull a trailer of decent size where a car cannot. Also, our pickups are four-wheel-drive so will get us in to real wild places. Of course, it depends a lot on just where you are planning to bug out to: Uncle Jack’s farm or your remote fishing camp in the wilderness. — Jackie

Canning hamburger

I found a “recipe” for canning hamburger logs by rolling the meat into a solid log shape to fit into a canning jar. Leave 1″ head space & pressure can. Later you may slice this into hamburger patties. This seems to be one of those “too thick to be safe” ideas. Sure sounds easy! Your advice?

Judith Almand
Lithia, Florida

Well, in “the olden days” I used to just pack hamburger into wide mouth jars and can. But the resultant product looked like … well … dog food. Yuck! This is why I first brown my ground meat before packing it into jars, whether crumbled or made into patties. The patties done this way don’t taste like hamburgers … more like meatloaf. I put them on a cookie sheet, pour barbecue sauce on top and heat in the oven for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. I’m thinking the log thing would be too dense for safety and would also come out like my dog food canned hamburger from the past. I’d skip it. — Jackie

Cold hardy apricot tree

This year the last apricot tree died. Every year in spring it warms up, the trees bud then it freezes so I don’t get any apricots. I looked at the St Lawrence nursery but right now they’re just selling apple trees. Can you recommend a cold hard apricot tree that buds later? I had Moongold and Sungold but they just don’t like the cold.

Franci Osborne
Ignacio, Colorado

I’d wait until the new guy at St. Lawrence gets going. I’m hoping they’ll soon be back in full swing. Meanwhile, Fedco Trees has Debbie’s Gold, Westcot, and Brookcot, all from Manchurian Apricot breeding. They do bloom later and are Zone 3 hardy, having smaller apricots. But if you’re like us, ANY apricot that tastes good is a WIN! — Jackie